Highs and lows from round two last Friday night.
MotoOnline.com.au pulls out the microscope and dissects some of the surprises, standouts, shockers and disappointments from round two of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship at Toowoomba in Queensland.
Hit
Justin Brayton:
The Honda Genuine Racing SX1 contender notched up his second consecutive win of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship in Toowoomba. Thanks to another impressive performance consisting of a heat race and 20-lap main event victory, the American import continues to lead the premier class points chase with a perfect points score ahead of CDR Yamaha’s Dean Ferris.
Wil Hahn:
After claiming a fifth place finish at Jimboomba’s season opening round, National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Wil Hahn went back to work during the four-week break and came out swinging in Toowoomba. The American SX1 rider landed himself a second place finish in Friday night’s main event and claims he has not felt this good on the bike for quite some time. With this newfound comfort and confidence, Hahn will be a rider to watch when the series arrives at Wayville in South Australia.
Jackson Richardson:
With minimal time on the bike before round one, Serco Yamaha’s Jackson Richardson left the event with a fourth place finish under his belt. It was clear the Queenslander had used the break to his advantage in Toowoomba as he hit the track sharper, faster and ready to do damage in the SX2 category. After kicking off the night with a heat race win, Richardson then went on to claim a comfortable and impressive victory in the main event.
Miss
Gavin Faith:
Penrite Honda’s Gavin Faith entered the Toowoomba event as the SX2 series leader after a strong showing at Jimboomba’s opening round – he was the man to beat at round two. After claiming a heat race victory and gaining the early main event lead, all looked to be going to plan for the American before disaster struck. Faith went down hard and saw himself go a number of laps down in the process, a huge hit to the multi-time champion’s 2016 title campaign. Faith now sits sixth in points with four rounds remaining as DPH Motorsport Yamaha’s Hayden Mellross gains control of the title chase.
Jimmy Decotis:
Following a sub-par showing at Jimboomba’s opening round, Honda Genuine Racing’s Jimmy Decotis entered Toowoomba with immense pressure to perform as the defending SX2 champion. Setting the fastest lap during his heat race, it would seem the American had returned to his regular form, that was until a huge crash in the whoops saw him out of the heat race and subsequently out of the entire event. Decotis now finds himself in 14th place in points after two rounds of racing, not the ideal situation for the title favourite and defending champion.
Dan Reardon:
The defending champion found himself in an unfamiliar situation during Toowoomba’s main event – he was being lapped by the lead group. Reardon was yet another victim of the tough and technical whoops that took down multiple riders during the night, and after hitting his head in the process, it was straight into damage control mode for the CDR Yamaha rider following the incident. Following his Toowoomba mishap, the Queenslander now sits fourth overall in standings, 20 points behind series leader Justin Brayton.